Lift for sadirons



March 2, 1937. T. L. REED LIFT FOR SADIRONS Filed April 8, 1935 Patented Mar. 2, 1937 UNITED STATES' PATENT OF FICEe 18 Claims.

My invention relates to means forming a part of or attachable to a sad iron by means of which the iron is automatically raised above'the level of a supporting surface when thehandle is re- 5 leased and may be. lowered into frictional contact with said supporting surface for use by operating the lift when the handle of the iron is grasped, as in an ironing operation.

Due to the fact'that there are a great'many 10 different types and forms of irons, particularly electric irons, and it would require practically as many different forms of lifts to. construct different irons so as to embody my improvements, I prefer to provide a detachable lift device in the 15 form of an accessory for irons which is readily applicable to practically all commercial types of irons with but slight modification.

A prime object of my invention is to provide a simple form of device which may be economically manufactured for application to irons at the factory or to irons in use with equal facility. To this end, I contemplate the provision of a lift device which is detachably connected with the handle of an iron, or to the handle supporting 5 member at one end of the iron, preferably the front end, and includes a pair of horizontal sup.- porting arms adapted to normally rest upon a supporting surface and tensioned sufficiently to hold the iron substantially above the supporting surface, and an operating lever overlying the iron handle and operable manually from a normally erect position to adepressed position overlying the iron handle prior to an ironing operation, for lowering the iron onto a support- 35 ing surface.

United States No. 1,920,668, granted to me on August 1, 'l933,for Safety sadirons", with respect to which the present, invention, though for a somewhat similar device, embodies certain 50 notable improvements and refinements. a

I have shown a preferred form of device in the accompanying drawing, subject to modification; within the scope of the appended claims,

without departing from the spirit of my inven- 55 tion. in said drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an electric iron equipped with my detachable lift and showing the iron normally supported substantially above the level of a supporting surface and the operating member for the lift extended upwardly above the handle of the iron; I

' Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same withthe lift elevated and the iron lowered into ironing position on a supporting surface and the operating lever manually held in overlying position on the iron handle, as during an ironing operation; a Fig. 3 is a front end elevation of the iron and lift;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the lift and iron handle on line 4-4 of Fig 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional plan on line 5-5 of Fig, 4; v

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional elevation on line 6-45 of Fig. 2; I

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a sheet metal bracket removably attachable to the iron handle for operatively supporting the. lift device; and

Fig. 8 is a perspective View of one of a pair of channelled members forming parts of a slide for adjustably supporting the lift on the iron.

Briefly described, a lift embodying my improvements includes: a pair of laterally spaced arms I, I, adjustably attached to a slide 2 which is movable vertically on a bracket 3 adapted to be rigidly held on an end of the handle B of a sad iron A, and an operating lever 4 pivotally secured to said bracket and operatively connected with said slide.

Bracket 3 is formed of a single piece of sheet metal, as shown in Fig. 7 and is bent at an intermediate point 5 so as to provide upwardly turned parallel spaced walls 6 and 1 and providing 'a space within which the slide 2 is vertically movable. The upper portion 8 of wall I is bent inwardly against the upper portion of wa1l 6; and intermediate the upper and lower ends of the bracket a pair of lugs 9, 9, are bent outwardly at laterally spaced points for engaging the opposite edges of a handlesupporting member C usually provided on iron A. 1 Bracket 3 is pierced at Ml for receiving an elongated rod or bolt H which extends entirely through the handle B and has a head I2 externally of the bracket and may have a nut at the opposite end of the handle (not shown) for rigidly attaching the bracket to the handle of the iron. It will be apparent that the lugs 9 of the bracket prevent the lateral movement of the bracket on the iron while the rod or bolt ll constitutes the sole attaching member for the lift.

As shown in Fig. 4, the upper end of the handle supporting member is usually attached to the end of the handle by means of a screw and when the screw is removed the rod II may be substituted therefor and serve to attach the member C as well as bracket 3 by using one or more washers I3 at the end of handle B between the end of member C and bracket 3.

Slide 2 embodies a pair of similar members I4, I4, which are cross connected within the space of bracket 3 by means of a plurality of rollers, as at I5, I6 and I1 and a single bolt I8 which extends through the upper portions I9 and the Webs 20 of members I4 and serves to hold the arms I, members I 4, I4, and the rollers I5, I6 and I! in operative relation. Said rollers rotatably engage the walls 6 and I of bracket 3 and reduce the friction to a minimum and may be mounted on pins, as at 2|, in the case of the upper and lower rollers I5 and I1, while the intermediate roller I6 may be held on the bolt I8.

Itwill be noted that members I4 have right an- .gularly bent sides 22, 22, which are crimped or serrated at least on theirinner faces and the upper'ends of the arms I, I, are similarly serrated so that'the positions of the arms may be correspondingly fixed at points on the members I4 andsheld from .displacement by the interlocking serrations. Thewebs 20 of the members I4 have vertically elongated slots 23 therein through which the attaching bolt I8 extends, and the length of said slot is sufficient to permit the vertical adjustment of the arms I, I, on members I4, I4, to the extent that the bolt I8 may be moved in slots 23.

MembersfMand wall 6 of bracket 3 have laterally extended lugs 24, 24, and 25, 25, respectively, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, to which opposite ends of springs 26, 26, are attached and are sufiiciently tensioned as. to elevate and hold the iron A in raised position with respect to and out of contact with a supporting surface 21, and at the same time hold the operating. lever 4 upwardly extended as shown in Fig. 1, when pressure thereon is released. Said lever has a handle of arcuate cross section so that when it is depressed to the position shown in Fig. 2 it will closely overlie the handle B, and the hinged end of member 4 is enlarged and provided with flanges 28, 28,- which overlie and are hinged to the upper end of bracket 3 at points 29, 29. outwardly of the fulcrum points 29, 29, member 4 is hingedly connected at points 30, 30, to links 3|, 3|, and said links are pivotally secured at their lower ends to the pins 2| adjacent the ends of roller I5 of the slide 2.

Armsl, I, have horizontal portions 32, 32, which extend longitudinally of the base A of the iron, the lower edges of which are adapted to engage the supporting surface 21 when the lift is in normal position, as shown in Fig. 1, and the rear extremities 33, 33, are-preferably bent upwardly at a suitable angle, as shown. Intermediate the portions I9 and 32 angular and inwardly bent portions 34, 34, are, formed on the arms I, I, which extend over the upper curved top of the iron A. It will thus'be noted that the arms are peculiarly formed and mounted so as'to extend longitudinally of the iron sufficiently beyond the center of gravity in order that an elongated supporting portion may be provided on each side of and spaced from the base A of the iron A. Hence, the iron is well balanced when it is supported in elevated position, as shown in Fig. 2, by means of said'arms.

The adjustment of the portions I9 of arms I in the members I4 serves to regulate the extent to which the iron may be raised above its supporting surface and the extent of movement of the lift at each operation is barely sufficient to raise the iron to a level which will not burn or char the cloth on an ironing board or any form of supporting surface 2'! on which the iron is used.

The lift shown and described is readily adaptable to different forms and types of said irons,

electric and otherwise, the adjustment of the arms I on the members I4 serving to accommodate the lift to differences in the height of the handle B, the depth of the iron A and other peculiar characteristics of irons of different origin.

In operation, it will be apparent that when the operating member 4 is free the tension of springs 26 will exert a pull on lugs 25 at the lower end of bracket 3 and said bracket being rigidly attached to the handle B of the iron, the iron A will be lifted from its supporting surface to the extent permitted by the limitation of slide 2 in bracket 3. As shown, in Fig. 4, the lower roller I1 of the slide will engage the bottom 5 of bracket 3 and thereby limit the upward movement of the iron. When the operating member 4 is depressed by manual eifort into position above the handle B the iron A is lowered onto the support 21 and the arms I are elevated above the bottom of the iron when the handle of member 4 engages. the handle B. Continued pressure on the handle of member 4 while ironing will serve to retain the arms I in raised positions, but when the handle is released member 4 will immediately move on its fulcrumto an upwardly extended position, as shown in Fig. 1, thereby again raising the iron A to a position of disengagement with the support 21.

. I prefer to attach my improved lift to the front end of the iron A so that the service connection 35 may not be impaired or a change in its position rendered necessary, and to that end have shown in. the drawing a device particularly adapted for connection with irons at the front end of handle B. It will be understood,'however, that I may attach a lift embodying my improvements to the rear end of the handle B or to any other suitable portion of the iron without material modification.

What I claim, is:

1. A sad iron having a handle and a lift bodily attachable thereto as a unit and including: a pair of supporting arms disposed longitudinally on opposite sides of the iron and having vertical portions extending over and substantially above the body of the iron, means fixed to an end of and depending from said handlefor slidably supporting said vertical portions, and an operating member pivotally supported on said iron at a point adjacent an end at said handle and operatively connected with said arms whereby said operating member will be normally extended above said handle when said arms engage a supporting surface and when depressed will overlie said handle, and means for tensioning said arms and said operating member so as to lift said iron from a supporting surface, the entire lift being free from engagement with the body of the iron.

2. A sad iron having a handle and a lift bodily attachable thereto as a unit and including: a pair of supporting arms disposed longitudinally on opposite sides of the iron and having vertical portions extended above said iron, means for slidably ssupporting said arms on said iron, and an operating member pivotally supported on said v 2,072,217 iron at a point adjacent said handle and operatively connected with said arms whereby said operating member will be normally extended above said handle when said arms engage a supporting surface and when depressed will overlie said handle, means for tensioning said arms and said operating member so as to lift said iron from a supporting surface, and means for adjustably attaching said arms to said supporting means so as to correspondinglyregulate the extent to .which said iron is raised.

3. A sad iron having a handle and a lift bodily attachable thereto as a unit without contact with the body of the iron and including: a pair of supporting arms disposed longitudinally on opposite sides of the iron and having upwardly extending portions, means fixed to and depending from the handle for slidably supporting said arms on said iron, and an operating member pivotally supported on said iron at apoint adjacent said handle and operatively connected with said arms whereby said operating member will be normally extended above said handle when said arms engage a supporting surface and when depressed will overlie said handle, means for tensioning said arms and said operating member so as to lift said iron from a supporting surface,

said first named means including a slide and means for vertically adjustably securing said upwardly extending portions of said arms to said slide.

4. A sad iron having a handle and a lift bodily attachable thereto as a unit and including: a

.pair of supporting arms disposed longitudinally lift said iron from a supporting surface, said first named means including a slide adjustably secured to and for varying the position of said arms relative to the bottom of said iron for varying the lift of said iron, and means for frictionlessly supporting said slide so as not to reduce the tension on said arms, the entire lift being free from engagement with the body of the iron.

5. A sad iron having a handle and a lift attachable thereto and including: a bracket solely supported on an'end of said handle, a slide tensioned so as to be normally urged downwardly on said bracket, arms extending outwardly and downwardly from said slide and having portions disposed longitudinally of said iron for engagement with a supporting surface, and an operating lever operatively connected with said slide and having a handle portion overlying said iron handle, said arms being adapted to support said iron out of contact with a supporting surface when said handle is released, the entire lift being free from engagement with the body of the iron.

6. A sad iron having a handle and a lift attachable thereto and including: a bracket solely supported on an end of said handle, a slide tensioned so as to be normally urged downwardly on said bracket, arms extending outwardly and downwardly from saidslide and having portions disposed longitudinally of said iron for engagement with a supporting surface, an operating lever operatively connected with said slide and having a handle portion overlying said iron handle, said arms being adapted to support said iron out of contact'with a supporting surface when said handle is released, and means for adjustably attaching said arms to said slide for varying the elevation of said arms.

7. A sad'iron having a handle and a lift attachable thereto and including: a bracket solely supported on an end of said handle, a slide tensioned so as to be normally urged downwardly on said bracket, arms extending outwardly and downwardly from said slide and having portions disposed longitudinally of said iron for engagement with a supporting surface, an operating lever operatively connected with said slide and having a handle portion overlying said iron handle, said arms being adapted to support said iron out of contact with a supporting surface when said handle is released, and means on said bracket for engagement with a portion of said iron for preventing the lateral movement of said lift, the entire lift being free from engagement with the body of the iron.

8. A sad iron having a handle and a lift attach- :able thereto and including: a bracket solely supported in a vertical plane on an end of said handle, a slide tensioned so as to be normally urged downwardly on said bracket, arms extending outwardly and downwardly from said slide and having portions disposed longitudinally of said iron for engagement with a supporting surface, an operating lever operatively connected with said slide and having a handle portion overlying said iron handle, said arms being adapted to support said iron out of contact with a supporting surface when said handle is released,

said bracket having spaced walls, and said slide having rotatable means engaging said walls for effecting the frictionless-operation of said slide, the entirelift being free from engagement with the body of the iron.

9. A sad iron having a handle and a lift attachable thereto and including: a bracket solely supported on an end of said handle, a slide tensioned so as to be normally urged downwardly on said bracket, arms extending outwardly and downwardly from said slide and having portions disposed longitudinally of said iron for engagement with a supporting surface, an operating lever operatively connected with said slide and having a handle portion overlying said iron handle, said arms being adapted to support said iron out of contact with a supporting surface when said handle is released, said bracket hav ing spaced walls providing an enclosure for said slide, and means for limiting the movement of said slide on said bracket when moved in opposite directions. I

10. A sad iron having a handle and a lift attachable thereto and including: a bracket solely supported on an end of said handle, a slide tensioned so as to be normally urged downwardly on said bracket, arms extending outwardly and downwardlyfrom said slide and having portions disposed longitudinally of said iron for engagement with a supporting surface, an operating lever operatively connected with said slide and having a handle portion overlying said iron handle, said arms being adapted to, support said iron out of contact with a supporting surface when said handle is released, said slide having channelled members at the sides of said bracket, and said arms having portions adjustably held in said channelled members at selected elevations.

11. A sad iron having a handle and a lift attachable thereto and including: a bracket solely supported on an end of said handle, a slide tensioned so as to be normally urged downwardly on said bracket, arms extending outwardly and downwardly from said slide and having portions disposed longitudinally of said iron for'engagement with a supporting surface, an operating lever operatively connected with said slide and having a handle portion overlying said iron handle, said arms being adapted to support said iron out of contact with a supporting surface when said handle is released, said slide having channelled members at the sides of said bracket, said arms having portions adjustably held in said channelled members at selected elevations, and means for cross connecting said channelled members through said bracket, for correspondingly connecting said arms.

12. A sad iron having a handle and a lift attachable thereto and including: a bracket solely supported on an end of said handle, a slide tensioned so as to be normally urged downwardly on said bracket, arms extending outwardly and downwardly from said slide and having portions disposed longitudinally of said iron for engagement with a supporting surface, an operating lever operatively connected with said slide and having a handle portion overlying said iron handle, said arms being adapted to support said iron out of contact with a supporting surface when said handle is released, and cooperating means on and for adjustably interlocking portions of said arms and portions of said slide, for correspondingly varying the elevation of said arms.

13. A sad iron having a handle and a lift attachable thereto and including: a bracket solely supported on an end of said handle, a slide tensioned so as to be normally urged downwardly on said bracket, arms extending outwardly and downwardly from said slide and having portions disposed longitudinally of said iron for engagement with a supporting surface, an operating lever operatively connected with said slide and l having a handle portion overlying said iron handle, said arms being adapted to support said iron out of contact with a supporting surface when said handle is released, said operating lever having a heel portion pivotally secured to said bracket, and links operatively connecting said heel portion with transversely opposite portions of said slide.

14. A sad iron having a handle and a lift attachable thereto and including: a bracket solely supported on an end of and without the confines of said handle, a,slide tensioned so as to be normally urged downwardly on said bracket, arms extending outwardly and downwardly from said slide and having portions disposed longitudinally of said iron for engagement with a supporting surface, an operating lever pivotally supported on said bracket and having a handle portion overlying said iron handle, said arms being adapted to support said iron out of contact with a supporting surface when said handle is released, and tension spring means connecting said bracket and said slide and adapted, when said operating lever is released to raise said bracket and said iron above the level of the lower edges bracket above said arms and operatively connected with said arms, and tensioning means connecting said arms and said bracket, whereby when said lever is depressed said arms will be raised above the bottom of the iron and when said lever is released said iron will be raised above the bottom of said arms, the entire lift being free from engagement with the body of the iron.

16. An attachment for sad irons comprising: a bracket adapted to be rigidly attached to an end of and extended above and below an iron handle, a pair of spaced arms vertically slidable on said bracket, an operating lever pivotally held on said bracket above said arms and operatively connected with said arms, tensioning means connecting said arms and said bracket, whereby when said lever is depressed said arms will be raised above the bottom of the iron and when said lever isreleased said iron will be raised above the bottoms of said arms, said bracket having spaced walls, and means extended transversely between said walls for cross connecting said arms, the entire lift being free from engagement with the body of the iron.

17. An attachment for sad irons comprising: a bracket adapted to be rigidly attached to an end of an iron handle, a pair of spaced arms vertically slidable on said bracket, an operating lever pivotally held on said bracket above said arms and operatively connected with said arms, tensioning means connecting said arms and said bracket, whereby when said lever is depressed said arms will be raised above the bottom of the iron and when said lever is released said iron will be raised above the bottoms of said arms, and means on transversely opposite sides of said bracket and cross connected for adjustably attaching said arms at selected elevations in operative positions.

18. An attachment for sad irons comprising: a bracket adapted to be rigidly attached to an end of an iron handle, a pair of spaced arms vertically slidable on said bracket, an operating lever pivotally held on said bracket above said arms and operatively connected with said arms, tensioning means connecting said arms and said bracket, whereby when said lever is depressed said arms will be raised above the bottom of the iron and when said lever is released said arms will be forced downward relative to the bracket and iron, whereby the iron will be raised above the bottoms of said arms, and a slide including members correspondingly movable on opposite sides of said bracket and cross connected through said bracket for adjustably attaching said arms at selected elevations, said members being vertically channeled and serrated and correspondingly serrated portions of said arms adapted to seat in and interlock with said channeled members.

THOMAS L. REED. 

